Hotel Plasky, Avenue Eugene Plasky, Brussels

Functional, modern, good value and handy for visiting Eurocrats, Hotel Plasky has surprisingly large and comfortable rooms with flat screen televisions, safes, free Internet access and, in some cases, small leather armchairs. Net curtains and double glazing obscure the sights and sounds of the fairly busy road at the front. But the swirling patterns on some of the walls, the curtains and the bedspreads can be lurid and even toe-curling. By contrast, the grim, all-white bathrooms look like they belong in an East European hospital from the Soviet era. The buffet breakfast, in a clean and modern, but drab, dining room, includes passable machine coffee and orange juice, some tired scrambled egg, bread, croissants, pain au chocolat, salami, bland cheese and yogurts. At 95 euros for bed and breakfast, Hotel Plasky is easier on your pocket than on your eye. 6/10